


Miro's Journey

by OrionCohen



Category: Ender Series - Orson Scott Card, Ender's Game (2013), Ender's Game - All Media Types, Orson Scott Card, Speaker for the Dead - Fandom
Genre: Ender's saga, Gen, Libo and Miro being father and son, Miro Ribeira deserves more fanfic, Miro being a scientist, Speaker for the Dead - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-26
Updated: 2020-06-26
Packaged: 2021-03-04 07:07:36
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,757
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24919570
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OrionCohen/pseuds/OrionCohen
Summary: I wanted to make a fanfic about Miro Ribeira as he's one of my all time favorite characters from the Ender's Game quintet. This will be a multiple chapter story mostly exploring Miro's relationship with Libo and his work as a xenologer when he first began working with Libo.The first chapter takes place when Miro is 7, Libo talks to Novinha about the possibility that he's the father of her children. The next chapter will pick up with a teenage Miro beginning to work for Libo.
Relationships: Ivanova Santa Catarina "Novinha" von Hesse/Liberdade Gracas a Deus "Libo" Figueira de Medici, Miro Ribeira/Libo Figueira, Miro Ribeira/Ouanda Figueira, Novinha von Hesse/Miro Ribeira





	Miro's Journey

Genetic testing   
Patient: Marcos “Miro” Vladimir Ribeira von Hesse  
Doctor: João Navio, M.D.  
Summary: Genetic analysis of the patient was performed to test for the presence of the hereditary congenital defect conversionem adipemitis which causes the gradual replacement of exocrine and endocrine glandular tissues with lipidous cells. Testing is being performed due to the presence of the disorder in the patient’s father. It is worth noting that the patient's father likely has a mutated strain of the disease as most conversionem adipemitis are rendered sterile while in early adolescence and the patient’s father remains fertile at age 20.  
Result: Negative, patient has not inherited conversionem adipemitis.

Libo always had to wonder.   
From the moment Novinha became pregnant for the first time, the question was always there. Mine? Libo didn’t bother asking, the only way Novinha could know the father of her children would be through DNA testing, and Libo knew she would never dare to create the records from such tests. He told himself it was unlikely, after all his rendezvous with Novinha were infrequent, surely she spent more loving nights with the man to whom she’d wed than with her girlhood crush, and Libo was starting to feel as if he was nothing more than that.   
However, as he saw Miro grow, he couldn’t help but think about what a resemblance the boy had to him. More children were joining the Ribeira clan, could any of them belong to Libo? With each new pregnancy, that question came into his head. Mine? He and Novinha would meet up multiple times a month and while not every meeting included love making, most of them did. As it became more clear how callously Marcão treated Novinha, Libo began suspecting they didn’t have many intimate nights. If they weren’t having much sex, was it possible that Libo wasn’t just a possible father of Novinha’s kids, but the most likely one?   
After Novinha gave birth to her fourth child, a boy named Lauro who would later take the nickname Olhado, Libo decided to confront her.   
“How would I know?” She predictably replied “I haven’t done any genetic testing on any of my children”  
“You have ways to speculate”  
“Anyone can speculate, you obviously have. But I’m not interested in hearing your speculations”   
“Novinha, I deserve to know if I’m the father of any of your children” Libo said, raising his voice a little, but more out of frustration than as an attempt to appear intimidating. He’d long since come to the conclusion that Ivanova Santa Catarina Ribeira von Hesse was immune to intimidation.  
“First, let’s get one thing straight: My husband is the father of my children, all of them. I don’t know if it was his sperm or yours that got me pregnant and I don’t care. He is raising them, they call him ‘papa’, that makes him the father whether you like it or not. Second, you don’t deserve anything. You’re an adulterer, a sinner. Every time you lie with me you’re betraying your beautiful and loving wife, so don’t talk to me about what you deserve” Novinha’s body language was strong, but her voice cracked as she spoke, the way it always did when she was about to cry.  
“If you didn’t want to be an adulterer and to make an adulterer of me, you should have given me your hand in marriage! We could’ve been happy together!” Libo was yelling now.  
“It would have killed you, you selfish…” Novinha was also yelling, but her voice trailed off, like she couldn’t find a cruel enough insult. “Idiota egoísta” Selfish idiot, she muttered.  
They were both quiet for a moment, then they hugged.   
This had become a pattern for them. Arguments followed by accusations followed by silence followed by physical comfort and forgiveness. It was nothing like Libo’s relationship with Bruxinha, his wife. He and Bruxinha rarely argued and never shouted. She was far too gentle to ever shout at Libo and far too kind to ever provoke Libo into ever shouting at her; Bruxinha was a beautiful and passive woman who deserved to have the whole heart of her lover, it really wasn’t fair she had gotten stuck with a philanderer for a husband. While Libo knew Bruxinha deserved better than Libo, he also often felt he deserved better than her, better than the boring and dim woman he’d married because she was safe. He deserved Novinha; explosive and brilliant Novinha; sinful and saintlike Novinha. And Novinha deserved Libo.   
Their hug lingered as they moved, still in each other’s arms, to the cot in the corner of the room. They were in the office of the xenobiologist, Novinha’s office. She’d always had a cot in here as she often fell asleep while at work. They laid down on the cot and their hug turned to silent snuggling. There would be no sex today, Novinha’s body was still recovering from the birth of her fourth child, but that didn’t mean there couldn’t be intimacy.   
Libo felt Novinha begin to shake in his arms, she was sobbing softly. The first time he’d seen Novinha cry was 13 years ago, on the anniversary of her parents’ deaths. Libo had known Novinha for less than a year at that point, he had just started to see past her cold facade. The tears startled him then, they were in such stark discordance with the image she projected. Now, after so many shared years, he was used to seeing her vulnerable and equally used to being vulnerable before her.  
“I know you said you don’t want to hear my speculations, but I’m going to tell them to you anyway” Libo spoke now in a soothing whisper “I think Miro’s mine. I know he’s only eight”  
Novinha interrupted with an inaudible whisper.  
“Hm?”  
“Miro’s seven” She repeated, a little louder.  
“Seven? He’s so mature for a seven-year-old. When’s his birthday again?”   
“Couple months from now” She was still crying, but could speak clearly now.  
“Right, well, I know he’s only seven, but he really does look like me. And from what I hear, he thinks like me. Ouanda tells me he’s the brightest student in her class, she says he’s the only second grader already on the algebra unit.”   
Novinha twisted in his arms, orienting herself to face Libo, she was beaming with parental pride and Libo couldn’t help but think about what a beautiful smile she had “That’s only because algebra is the most advanced math unit available to second graders. At home, he reads about trigonometry and geometry, I reckon he’ll start teaching himself calculus soon. His favorite subject is science, he reads about biology and chemistry and physics, he teaches it all to himself. He’s a scientist in the making”   
Libo smiled back at her, he kissed her on the cheek and whispered “You don’t seriously believe he gets all that brilliance from Marcão, do you?”   
“Hasn’t it occurred to you that Miro gets his brilliance from me?” Novinha asked with a roll of her eyes. Her tone was joking, but she was making a good point. Libo considered it, but shook his head.   
“My dear Novinha, you are a genius. But do you know what happens when a genius mates with a fool? The offspring is average. If Cão were Miro’s father, he would have watered down your intelligence until Miro was, at best, bright. But we both know Miro’s a genius, a prodigy. A mind like that comes from two brilliant parents, not just one,” said Libo.  
“The genetics of intelligence aren’t as clear cut as you make them sound. Some idiots give birth to geniuses, some geniuses give birth to idiots, and some parents give birth to geniuses and idiots. Think of Peter the Hegemon, surely one of the greatest minds to ever live. And yet was his brother not the fool that destroyed a beautiful species?” Asked Novinha.  
“Ender the Xenocide was a monster and a psychopath, yes. But I’m not talking about moral reasoning skills here, I’m talking about IQ. Ender, wicked as he was, must’ve been so very clever, maybe even as clever as his brother the Hegemon, for he outwitted in battle a brilliant enemy. I know it’s never exact or clear cut, but I can’t believe a boy like Miro came from the dog you call husband, I simply can’t.”  
Novinha seemed annoyed now, she moved to the opposite end of the cot so they were sitting across from each other, no longer in one another’s arms “What about Elanora and Estavão and baby Lauro? Do you think they must all be dim-witted, must’ve had their intellects ‘watered down’ by the one you call Cão? Tell me, do you think my other children come from a dog?”  
“I’m in no position to judge your family,” said Libo.  
“No, you aren’t. And yet you do so anyway”  
“I don’t know enough about your other children. They don’t seem to physically resemble me as much as Miro, but maybe they’re every bit as clever. I don’t have a daughter in Elanora’s class so I know nothing of her academic aptitudes, Estavão isn’t even in school yet, and Lauro is still a newborn baby. But here’s what I think: you and I both know ourselves to be fertile and we’ve had unprotected sex frequently enough over the past decade that it seems unlikely that I would have never gotten you pregnant. I assume you also have an active sex life with your husband and I assume he’s fertile, so it’s unlikely that he’s never gotten you pregnant as well. Of your four kids, I’m willing to bet at least one is mine and at least one is his,” said Libo.  
“They’re all his! They call him ‘papa’” Novinha yelled.   
Libo said nothing, he didn’t feel like getting into another shouting match with her.   
“They’re all his” She said again, though quieter this time. She leaned forward and embraced Libo again, resting her chin on his shoulder and wrapping her arms around his back, he returned the gesture. “One of your assumptions was off” she whispered in his ear.  
“What do you mean?”  
“You said that you assume I have an active sex life with Marcos and you assume he’s fertile. One of your assumptions was off”  
Libo’s head was spinning as he tried to make sense of what he was hearing, he pulled away from the hug and gazed into Novinha’s eyes. “Are you going to tell me which one?” He asked.  
“Libo, Marcos is sterile.”


End file.
